Cabinet door catch



June 27, 1961 D HEYER 2,990,207

CABINET DOOR CATCH Filed Aug. 26, 1954 I I [III INVENTOR. D0 HEYEE,

6 4 a/dzw ATTORNEY.

United States Patent C) 2,990,207 CABINET DOOR CATCH Don Heyer, El Monte, Calif., assignor, by mesne assignments, to M & H Industries, Anaheim, Calif., a corporation of California Filed Aug. 26, 1954, Ser. No. 452,264 3 Claims. (Cl. 292-70) This invention relates to cabinet door catches of the type comprising cooperable male and female catch members for frictionally holding such doors in closed position.

It is an object of this invention to provide an improved door catch of the type above noted, which is self-aligning, noiseless and subject to long periods of reliable use without such wear andconsequent loosening of the holding action as heretofore encountered with friction door catches. 1

Another object of this invention is the provision of a door catch such as described, in which the female element is formed of a resilient yieldable, yet relatively stiff material, such for example as polyethylene, constructed in a novel manner to assure a reliable releasable holding action.

It is another object of this invention to provide an improved door catch such as described, in which the z the scope of the invention is best delined by the appended claims. l r

Referring to the drawings: I

FIG. 1 is an elevational view .of a cabinet having a shelf and a door, showing a catch'embodying the present invention as installed. on the shelf andthe door;

FIG. 2 is an enlarged sectional view taken on the line 2-2 of FIG. 1, part of the shelf being broken away to show the female catch member beneath the shelf;

FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken on the line 3-3 of FIG. 1, showing the female catch member partly in sec tion and the male member in position to enter the fe'mal member;

FIG. 4 is an elevationalview, partly in section, showing the male catch member engaged in the female catch member;

male catch element is in the form of a simple ball-head wood screw.

It is an additional object of this invention to provide a catch such as described, which may be easily and cheaply manufactured and easily installed.

Additionally, it is an object hereof to provide a catch such as described, wherein the female catch member has a bore of such formation as to provide surfaces which are undulate or irregular axially of the bore, whereby the head of the male member when engaged with such surfaces will be frictionally engaged to assure a positive but releasable holding action at any point in the length of the bore.

A further object hereof is the provision of a catch such as described, in which the male element will enter the female element and be held therein regardless of relative changes in the position of the door and frame caused by sagging or other misalignment.

Another object of this invention is the provision of a door catch such as described, wherein the female catch member is tubular and provided with a novel internal groove and rib formation for effecting a positive but releasable frictional grip of the ball head of the male catch member in all axial points within the bore of the female catch element. 1

It is another object hereof to provide a door catch such as described, wherein the female catch element is formed with laterally extending apertured attaching ears located with respect to the catch element proper so as to facilitate installation of the catch member.

It is a further object hereof to provide a catch such as described, wherein the attaching ears on the female element have the apertures formed in a novel manner to hold the screws for fastening the catch member in place, thereby facilitating installation of the catch.

This invention possesses many other advantages and has other objects which may be made more easily apparent from a consideration of several embodiments of the invention. For this purpose there are shown two forms in the drawings accompanying and forming part of the present specification. These forms will now be described in detail, illustrating the general principles of the invention; but it is to be understood that this detailed description is not to be taken in a limiting sense, since FIG. 5 is a sectional view taken on the line 5- -5 of FIG. 3; FIG. 6 is a sectional view taken on the line 6-6 of FIG. 3, showing how the screws are held in place in' the female catch member before the catch member is fas tened in place; v FIG. 7 is an elevational view, partly in section, similar to FIG. 3, of a modified form of thisinvention; and y FIG. 8 is a sectional view taken on the line 8-8 .of FIG. 7. 1 In the accompanying drawing, FIG. 1 illustrates a typical installation ona cabinet 6, of a catch embodying the present invention. The male catch member 7 of the catch is secured to the hinged door 8 of the cabinet," whereas the female catchmember 9 is secured by means of screws 10 (FIG. 2) to the underside of a shelf 11 in member 9 is of special form and made of resilientand: yieldable material which is, deformable, but has suflicientf resiliency to return to original formation after deformation pressure is removed therefrom. that certain plastic materials, for example, polyethylene or comparable plastics, are well suited for the production of this catch member. I J I p Accordingly, the female catch member 9 comprises;

a tubular body 911, having integral apertured ears 9b projecting lateral-1y outwardly from one end of the. body to facilitate the mounting of the female member byv means of the screws 10. The ears 9b are flat and offset from.

the longitudinal center line of the body 9a, with one plane surface 9' thereof flush with one longitudinal side of the body, as shown in FIG. 3, whereby the ears and the body will lie flat against the shelf 11 or support on which the female catch is mounted.

The tubular body 9a of the female catch member 9 is provided with a through bore 90. This bore is reduced in diameter, as at 9d, at the end of the body from which the ears 9b extend.

The head 7a of the male member 7 is adapted to be extended into the bore 9c, as shown in FIG. 4, and so as to be frictionally and releasably held therein, the rela- It has been found:

. 3 and irregular axially of the body. It has been found that a helical groove 92 formed in the bore 9c will provide a helical rib 9 which with the groove, will effect areliable frictional gripping action. 1

The width of the groove 9e and rib 9f, in consideration of the diameter of the bore 9c andthe diameter of the head .70., is such' that in all positions .of the head in the bore, the head will engage in a part of the groove and against a part of the rib, as indicated in FIG. 4. Thus, regardless ofthe position of the head'7a in the bore 9c, there will be providedfan effective frictional gripping action. :1 1 The apertures 9g in the ears 9br1are' tapered, or otherwise restricted, to hold the screws 10 in assembled relation with the female catch member. As shown in FIG. 6, the apertures are formed so that the smaller ends thereof open through the flat surfaces 9' of the ears. Thescrews 11, wheninserted in these apertures, are frictionally held in a manner facilitating the installation of the female catch member- The restriction of the apertures is such that the pointed ends of the screws may be held in inwardly spaced relation to the flat surfaces 9'. 'I'hus, whenplacing these flat surfaces against the shelf or other member on which the female catch member is to be installed, the screws will not be dislodged and a convenient and quick mounting of-thecatch member may be effected. 4 It has been found that the catch will function in an eflicient manner if the diameter of the bore in the female member is about equal to' the diameter of the ball head of the male member. Thus, in view of the flexibility, and

inherent qualities of the material of which the female member is-formed, also the groove and rib formation,

the desired holding action is assured and the male catch member may be withdrawn without requiring a heavy pull.

. In locating the ears 9bas shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, the

tubular body 9a of the female catch member is free to flex into alignment with themale catch member 7 upon moving the head 7a of the male catch member against the outer end of this tubular body. Thus, the female catch member is self-aligning and will compensate for misalignment of the catch members such as may be caused in the installation of the catch members or as a result of swelling or sagging .of thecabinet parts on which the catch members are installed.

A modified form of-this invention,-as shown in FIGS. 7 and 8, differs from the first described form only as to the formation of the bore through the female catch member 12. Thus, this modified catch member includes a tubular body 13 and apertured ears 14 corresponding to the tubular body and apertured ears shown in FIGS. 1-6, the male member 15 also being the-same as shown in FIGS. 1-6.

Instead of the helical groove-and rib arrangement pro- 4 vided in the first described form, the female member 12 is provided in the bore of its tubular body 13 with a series of axially spaced annular grooves 16 which define therebetween annular ribs 17. These ribs and grooves provide an irregular or undulate surface axially of the bore of the body 13-for effectively gripping the ball head 18 ofthe male catch member 15. I

The width and axial spacing of the grooves 16 and ribs 17 are such in consideration of the diameter of the ball head 18, that the latter in any position the bore of the body 13, will be engaged at substantially diametrically opposite sides with a groove and a rib as shown in FIG. 7. It has been found that by having the grooves 16 and ribs 17 inclined from a plane perpendicular to the axis of the body'of the member 13, an eflect similar to that obtained with helical ribs and grooves is obtained. This arrangement assures that the annular grooves and ribs will coact to securely but releasably grip the head 18 of thetinember 15 inlall positions of this head-in'the'bore of the body 13.

I claimi 1. In a door catch: an elongated female catch member of resilient yieldable material; said catch member having a'bore dimensioned to releasably retain a round-headed made catch at axially spaced positions therein; and rib and groove formations extending circumferentially of and axially within said bore the bore being substantially longer than the diameter of the round head of the male catch for frictionally engaging and retaining said catch member in any of said positions whereby the female catch member is sel-faligning' and will compensate for misalignment of the catch member so that regardless of the position of the head of the male catch member in the bore effective gripping action'will be obtained. 1

.2. In a door catch as set forth in claim 1 wherein the riband groove formations are helical. v

3. In a door catch; as set' forth in claim 1 in which the grooves are annular and are inclined relative toa plane perpendicular to the axis of said bore.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNI ED STATES; PATENTS OTHER REFERENCES American Builder Magazine, January 1953, page 257.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE CERTIFICATE OF CORRECTION Patent No. 2,990,207 June 27 1961 Don Heyer peers in the above numbered pat- It is hereby certified that error ap d Letters Patent. should read as ent requiring correction and that the sai "corrected below.

Column 4 line 26-, for "made" read male Signed and sealed this 28th day of November 1961,

( SEA L) Attest:

DAVID L. LADD ERNEST W. SWIDER Attesting Officer Commissioner of Patents USCOMM-DC 

